The Rolling Stones and Philosophy_ It's Just a Thought Away - Luke Dick [109]
Shout and Scream and Kill the King
During the campaign, Richards blows away the auxiliaries on the edge of town with a rendition of “Play with Fire” and staggers his way into Plato’s Republic. Along the way, he works the working-class appetites into a frenzy. They love him. They want his records. They want to sleep with him. Plato was right. Poets and artists do have their way with the appetites. If you don’t believe it, put on a copy of Exile on Main Street, drink a few rounds, and see what happens. Probably something more bawdy and raucous than if you wouldn’t have. Let’s see what kind of society emerges, reflective of Keef ’s soul.
What do we know about Richards’s soul? Well, this bloke has appetites—for drugs, for sex, for booze, for music, for bangers and mash. He is also quite spirited. I don’t think anyone could ever accuse Richards of being dead behind the eyes. I’d bet my Fender Telecaster that he’d still pull a knife on you. He also has moments of real rational clarity. His understanding of the legal system, music, world history, and religion as expressed in Life really paint a worldly picture of him. These, of course, are all things we love about Keith. He’s a character out there in the world making great music and living his quirky life, and we love him for it in some weird way. Richards seems to have mellowed in his sixties, so, to make things more interesting, we’ll use the young Keef’s antics during the Stones’ heyday to talk about Richard’s soul as a possible philosopher king.
Keef ’s appetites are most radically displayed in his drug use. This man has cheated death and the law a few times with his ravenous hunger for substances. Week-long benders, car crashes, fights, all somehow drug-related. For Richards, getting the fix for his appetites is his priority (or was during his twenties and thirties). He knew it could kill him. He knew it was unhealthy for his young son to wake him up for gigs or hide the dope when he was too high to handle himself. Still, the appetite held a high seat of power for Keith. When he eventually kicked his habit, it was because it threatened to destroy his talent. Without talent, he’s done for. But family, relationships, and many other things that hold conventional value took a back seat to his appetite for drugs. It was a reckless life, to say the least.
Quite different from the philosopher king of the Republic, Richards’s spirit takes the form of a blue Bentley, darker and meaner than a bruise, his path guided primarily by two things: a voracious appetite for drugs and an unwavering appetite for unique artistic creation. The desire for creative expression is an appetite much like a drug and can be every bit as destructive. The roadmap for Keith’s spirit has always led to one of these two, given the day and the hour. Anita or Marlon may have been in the car with him at any given time, and maybe even a history book or two, but Keef ’s spirit wasn’t primarily directed by domestic bliss or knowledge. Something of Keith’s young soul is revealed by the fact that “Blue Lena” (Keith’s Bentley) has a special, hidden drug compartment.
So, Richards swerves and runs his car onto the lawn of the philosopher king, leaving the rigid rulers beneath tons of blue and bloody steel. This dangerous part of Richards is part of what we identify with when we tune in. He has just enough control of himself and his appetites to be dangerous.
No need for a recount. Plato and the philosopher kings have been pummeled. Richards holds the keys to the city and the reigns of the soul. How does it translate to his leadership? What does the Republic of Keef look like? Something like this: the working class and their habits—the appetites—are constantly on the brink of revolution. They always want more. To get it, they ultimately don’t care if they die. They don’t care that they risk their lives. They don’t care that they risk the lives of their